IRS warns taxpayers of new e-mail and telephone rebate scams

The Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday put out a warning to taxpayers to be aware of new telephone and e-mail scams designed to trick them into divulging personal and financial information in order to get a tax rebate.

The scams have popped up across the county as Congress discusses an economic stimulus package that might include advanced payment checks or rebates from the IRS. To date, the government has not approved any legislation authorizing the IRS to send tax rebate checks to Americans, said Carrie Resch, a spokeswoman for the IRS in St. Paul.

In recent weeks, scores of consumers in all regions of the United States have received phone calls from somebody posing as an IRS employee. The caller tells the taxpayer that he or she is eligible for a sizable tax rebate for filing their taxes early. The caller then tells the taxpayer that he needs the taxpayer's bank account number to direct deposit the rebate. If the taxpayer refuses to give his or her bank account number to the caller, they are told they are ineligible for the refund, Resch said.

"The IRS does not force taxpayers to use direct deposit," Resch said. "The IRS does not gather the information by telephone. Taxpayers who opt for direct deposit do so by completing the appropriate section of their tax return."

Equally as common has been an e-mail that falsely claims to be from the IRS telling the recipient that he or she is eligible for a tax refund of a specific amount. The e-mail instructs the recipient to click on a link and fill out a claim refund form that asks for personal information. The e-mail also is targeting tax-exempt organizations that distribute funds to other organizations or individuals, Resch said.

"The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mail about tax account matters to individuals, businesses, tax-exempt or other taxpayers," she said.

The scams are dangerous because they ask taxpayers to reveal information such as Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers, which scammers use to commit identity theft, Resch said.

Often the thieves use the personal information to run up charges on victims' credit cards, empty bank accounts, apply for new loans, file fraudulent tax returns and commit other crimes. In many cases, the crimes are committed electronically and long before the victim become aware of the theft, Resch said.

Resch said anybody wishing to access the IRS' official website should type the address www.irs.gov into their browser and never click on a link included with an e-mail or as an attachment.

Anybody who has received one of the bogus e-mails can forward it to phishing@irs.gov. Consumers may also use that e-mail address to report suspicious telephone calls.